the painted house

Doug's pride and joy last month was Operation: Paint Most of the Rooms in Our House. Since the DAT was over and he was still only working part-time, he spent several days painting our bedroom, bathroom, and front room.

Oh, and please forgive the weird camera angles. The rooms are messy and I'm trying to hide it. Don't judge us.

The Master Suite: a simple white that helped clean up the old scary paint job significantly.

We went a little accent crazy with vinyl cutouts made with my Cricut machine, but it was way fun. I consider it still a work in progress.


The Bathroom: a color blue that we think totally rocks. Matches our towels and our shower curtain. A dream come true.



The Family Room: we (well, Doug) created a fun green accent wall and left the rest of the walls a light brown. If you think we've hung up our pictures again, you're wrong.


My buddy Scott came to visit and we realized that we were matchy match with not only each other, but with the walls too! Here we are blending in with our perfect camouflage.


We love the new look! Mad props to Doug for taking on the project. I heart him!!

the next generation

If this post feels different to you, that's because it is.

I came home from work tonight and found this:




and then this:




and this:




and even this:



and finally THIS!!!:




[cue the hallelujah chorus]

After months of saving and plotting and planning, it's here! So this is our first post from our new computer. No more running to campus to use the computers, no more running to Ben and Whit's to annoy them as we use their printer, and no more cursing the inconvenience of having no way to do homework late at night. Our lives will never be the same...

family time

Thanks to graduation and the LDS Dentists Conference, we got a chance to see all of the Shafers and some of the Wolfes last week. So fun!

We celebrated with the Shafers going out to eat at Tucanos, hitting up the Heber Creeper (a train extravaganza), and hanging out.






We celebrated with Ben and Stacey by going out to eat up in Sundance, introducing Stacey to my Cricut Expression machine, and Doug giving Jack his first haircut.







It was so so good to see them all!! We totally heart our families.

pomp & circumstance

Loved seeing these Shafers graduate. There’s just something about the three siblings in cap and gown that rocks my photographic world.

Way to go Doug, Ben, and Kadi!

graduate doug shafer... almost

Last year it was my turn... now this year it's Doug's.

This Thursday and Friday Doug will graduate (kinda) from Brigham Young University. Technically he finishes his classes in December, but BYU doesn't hold graduation ceremonies then. So Doug chose to walk a bit early since his brother Ben is graduating this week too. And to really spice it up, their sister Kadi is going to throw on a cap and gown and walk with them too (she never did it when she graduated a few years ago... better late than never!).

So don't be hurt that we didn't send you a graduation announcement. We both feel like "oh yeah, he's graduating... in December." It won't feel real until he walks out the testing center that one last time, and then goes to buy himself some delicious BYU fudge so he can down it all by himself without sharing and without any guilt. Or at least that's what I did after my last final.

Go class of 2007!

alpine days rodeo a/k/a doug finds his true career path

If you are a minor and a citizen of Alpine, Utah, you know where you were Friday night: the Alpine Days Juvenile Rodeo. This hot spot was the gathering place of children, youth, and adult guardians alike. It was a great chance for people to reunite, strengthen their bonds as neighbors, and watch small children ride sheep. It was my second year attending a children's rodeo, and I have to admit it's quite the experience. It's not very often that you can see a crowd of kids chasing after chickens (the lucky winners got to take them home and the lucky parents got to explain why they had to leave the chicken in a box underneath the bleachers), and very rarely do you get to see teenagers ride steer as if steers were made to ride. It's amazing.

And to tell you the truth, I don't consider myself a rodeo person. I don't even own *gasp* cowboy boots! But I still came, for one reason and one reason only...

to see THIS:


Priceless, isn't it? Doug was a very good sport and agreed to help out our old bishop who runs the rodeo. He and two other guys helped herd sheep, run from angry steer, and throw free stuff to the rodeo-goers. As you can imagine, Doug did a great job. And he loved it. He told me that he's considering forgetting dental school and focusing solely on rodeo clown opportunities. I simply punched him in the face.






We also hit up the real grown-up ("Pure Bull") rodeo the next night with the Allers. It really was fun, although I find the whole rodeo concept to be extremely fascinating. And at times disturbing.

tonight...

If any of you need to find us tonight, you're going to need to look at the Alpine Days Rodeo. I'll be the one sitting in the bleachers trying to blend in with the rodeo crowd, and Doug will be one of the rodeo clowns running around in the ring. He'll be wearing a flourescent green shirt and a gigantic cowboy hat--you can't miss him.

(It's a favor for our old bishop. And it's a children's rodeo, so there are no big mean scary bulls. Just smaller only semi-angry animals. We went last year and it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.)
(And yes, I will take pictures. Moments like this require photo documentation.)

dunlop blogs: check!

I am pleased to share that all four of my sisters have now joined the blogging world. Despite some resistance, we are now complete. Now if we could only get mom and dad to join the dark side...

Check them out!
Stacey & Ben
Jess & Dan
Cyd & Phil
Jenn & Travis

(Huh, I can't get the hyperlinks to work, so you'll have to use the links on the sidebar. So sorry.)

Where have we been?! Part II

Whilst I was in Chicago, Doug and his brother Ben drove to Washington to the casa de los Shafers. I flew back home a few days later, worked a day, and then flew into Portland. I spent a few days with my sister Stacey and her delightful fam and LOVED seeing them. Highlights with them include:
1. Having baby Jack reach out his arms to me the first second I saw him and having him laugh/smile the ENTIRE* time. (*Slight exaggeration, but it really seemed like it)
2. Playing at Cannon Beach. So beautiful!
3. Hannah: Let's listen to this song!
Stacey: Hannah, we're not listening to the Beastie Boys. Your dad is not here. [Pause] What 7-year-old knows who the Beastie Boys are??
4. Jeff rocking the dirtbiking world as he showed us the trails around his house. I get scared to death when he rides, but he really is good! And he gave us some tips for fourwheeling.

Doug came down to pick me up, spent some time with the Wolfes, and then we drove back up to the Shafer's. It was my first Shafer Family Reunion (Summer Edition), and it was fun to the max! Doug's parents, Kadi and Joel, Ben and Whitney, and the boys were all there. We boated, played, laughed, movied, ate, napped, and relaxed. I couldn't have asked for a better break from the real world, and it was good to be with the fam.

Boating on Silver Lake, about 2 minutes from the house. They have a pontoon that goes relatively fast, all things considered.

Doug wakeboarding. Notice Mt. Saint Helens in the background--sweet!

Doug getting dragged by the rope. No, folks, he's not on a tube, the wakeboard, or anything. He's just getting dragged. (All the boys tried it, and even Whit gave it a shot--they loved it... go figure!)

Introducing the Shafers to Extreme Croquet. Here Joel and Doug are obviously dueling. For the record, Mike and Joel SCHOOLED us. We couldn't handle the extremes of this course!

We also attempted family pictures. It worked out fairly well, but I don't know if we're quite satisfied customers. I only took a few on our camera, so here are the siblings, the brothers, and the nephews. (The nephews picture was hard earned. Why can't you just pay kids to cooperate?!)



Doug giving Mason his first haircut. Check out those blue eyes! He was so patient the entire time--what a champ.

Where have we been?! Part I

So we’ve neglected our blog. Big time. Partially because we’ve been MIA and partially because I can’t even pay Doug to do it these days. Dangit. Although I can’t explain why he neglects our blog, I can explain the MIAness in two parts:

Two weeks ago I headed to Chicago for a trade show for work. It was my first experience with a bigger show and it was a treat to see these scrapbook ladies in action. Talk about passionate!

The show was quite fun but it’s a lot of work. You sleep very little, eat out for every meal (nothing like starting your day off with McDonald’s), and you’re on your feet all day. But I learned a ton and I’m glad I went.

I’d say a highlight of the trip is best explained with the following pictures. These are some “mascots” from some of our leading products. Good times.



PS- I hope Alicia doesn't mind me putting the last pic on! She's adorable no matter what... I hope she knows that. :)